What's the difference?
It’s about time for a change. Since the beginning of the EV era, Tesla has been the dominant name, and not without good reason.
Tesla made electric cars popular, cool, and above all, accessible. To this day, the Model 3 and Model Y remain excellent purchases in their respective categories.
And yet, the tide seems to be turning. Many buyers haven't been thrilled by Elon Musk's antics, how popular the Tesla brand has become or maybe they never liked the look and feel of Tesla to begin with.
For those prospective EV buyers, it looks like BYD is set to be the next big thing in electric cars.
Offered at a far more accessible price-point, the Chinese brand still stands out with its distinctively styled vehicles and innovative features.
And the new car we’re looking at for this review, the Dolphin hatchback, could be the one to elevate the brand to the levels of popularity and recognition Tesla currently enjoys.
At the time of writing, it was also the most affordable electric car you can buy in Australia. But is it more than that? Read on to find out.
If, like just about everybody, you’re a bit concerned that an electric car might not be able to travel as far as you need to go, then the new MG ZS EV Long Range could be the small, fully-electric SUV for you.
We’ve tested the ZS EV Long Range here and can tell you how far you’ll get on a full charge and how much extra you’ll have to pay in price over the standard range version, along with what it’s like to drive, its features, practicality, ownership costs and of course its safety systems.
Be sure to watch the video above, where I’ll take you for a ride and show you my Big Foot tattoo. Yes, seriously.
Chinese manufacturers have been impressing us lately with the strides they’ve been making, and BYD is no exception with its Dolphin.
Not only does this hatch help bring the price down for prospective EV buyers, but it leaves a solid impression of a cohesive, well-built car, which is also quite a bit of fun to drive.
It’s not the fastest, nor is it the most practical, and there are a handful of downsides to its design and software, but when it comes down to it, this is simply a great value entry-level electric car.
The MG ZS EV Long Range is a practical small SUV that's easy to drive and the 440km it can travel on a full charge makes it the better choice over the standard range ZS EV. The extra 120km offered by the Long Range version reduces anxiety and is truly useful in covering more ground between charging.
The asking price may seem expensive but electric vehicle batteries are extremely costly to produce and will remain so for years to come.
Remember, too, that the MG4 electric car has an even great range for the same money - the only catch is, it's a hatch and not an SUV.